Fostering a love for reading in the languages classroom

Two-part online workshop focusing on a variety of reading strategies

​How is the workshop structured?

​Format and dates:

• The online reading strategies workshop is split into two x two hour sessions held over two afternoons, with three weeks in between to allow participants to practice and reflect.

Time:

• ​The two part workshop on developing avid readers in the world languages classroom will take place from 16:30-18:30 Central European Time (Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam)
• Click here for global time-zone converter

Availability:

• The latest workshop was FULLY BOOKED.
• Places are limited and are allocated on a first come first served basis.
• The next workshop will be offered in Spring 2023.
• To be the first to know and receive a pre-registration form by email before the course opens to the public, complete this short form.

Full details:

Fostering a love for reading - Overview.PDF
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About the presenter

• Dr. Liam Printer is a published author and has been a teacher of English, French & Spanish in a variety of settings for over 16 years. He currently teaches Spanish at The International School of Lausanne in Switzerland where he is also the ‘Leader of Pedagogical Innovation’, focusing on bringing research into classroom practice. Liam has been teaching with a CI-based approach for over 9 years and has been invited to present on CI techniques at the Agen CI Conference in France as well as a number of CI conferences in the US. He has been invited as the Keynote speaker at a number of International Language Learning conferences and he also lectures on the Post-graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course with the University of Durham and the International School of Geneva. He completed his Doctorate on ‘the motivational pull of teaching languages through storytelling with CI’ at the University of Bath. Liam now hosts The Motivated Classroom podcast which has had over 250,000 downloads of its 95 episodes to date.

Why is developing a love for reading so important?

• After over 40 years of research, it is widely accepted by language acquisition scholars that humans ‘acquire’ languages implicitly and naturally through receiving lots of rich, interesting and comprehensible inputs (CI) via listening and reading.
• Teaching with a CI based approach involves helping learners to acquire language naturally through listening and reading. It focuses primarily on establishing meaning rather than on grammatical accuracy and form.
• While teachers are becoming more skilled at providing interesting inputs through listening, the critical reading stage is often only briefly touched upon.
• Developing a love for independent reading in the target language has been repeatedly shown in research studies to have a lasting and crucial impact on language acquisition.
• By using a variety of reading activities in the languages classroom, students are not only developing vocabulary, improving spelling and accuracy, but are also raising their own perceptions of self-competence in the language which is central to developing their intrinsic motivation for the subject.
• CI based approaches to reading have been shown in research to be highly motivating and engaging, resulting in higher retention and uptake of languages.

What will we learn during the workshop?

• The workshop revolves around low-prep, classroom reading strategies designed to provide rich, compelling, comprehensible inputs (CI) that you can implement right away.
• We will go through some of my favourite reading activities stemming from research based evidence around building intrinsic motivation using student autonomy and competence.
• For parts of the workshop you will be ‘students’ in my class, engaged in a variety of different reading activities aimed at helping you to acquire a language naturally through the eyes of a learner.
• At the end of the workshop, participants will have the tools and resources to try out the following techniques in their classrooms:
  • Read, write and discuss
  • Ping-pong reading
  • Reading diaries
  • Class novels
  • Close reading activities
  • Classroom jobs and phrases to embed a love of reading
  • Retrieval practice mini whiteboard reading activities

What previous attendees said about the Motivated Classroom workshops:

​The Motivated Classroom CI Workshop provides such an excellent balance of theory/research and practical tips, along with opportunities for participants to practice skills. The workshop has encouraged me to consider my practice and how I may be able to improve my teaching. I am excited to work to improve my teaching skills in the coming year and am grateful for a supportive community in my fellow workshop participants to reach out to along the way.

• Kathryn, Japanese teacher, Australia

This workshop was so useful and I absolutely would recommend it to anyone who is interested in teaching with CI. A really learned a lot - and had so many ideas to try out in my classes.

• Antonia, Spanish teacher, Austria

Absolutely brilliant course covering all the basics of teaching using Comprehensible Input methods. Highly recommended!

• Lucy, French and Spanish teacher, UK​

This is a great session for anyone who is new to CI teaching. It gives the WHY and the HOW. It was amazing, and I would take it again. 
I came away feeling confident that I had some engaging and compelling tasks that I could use immediately in my lessons.  It was very interesting to be able to get specific tasks and activities that we could then practice and discuss with other teachers across the globe, in lots of different contexts - it really helped me look at my context from a different perspective and start thinking about changing things up! 

• Joanna, French teacher, UK

The course was presented in a dynamic, enthusiastic way and it was great to feel part of a global community with the same purpose.

• Amanda, French teacher, Canada

Liam presented in a way that was well scaffolded, clear, empowering, and provided strategies that can be implemented easily and right away to my students. 

• Arwen, French teacher, Canada

Liam Printer's workshop on CI strategies was excellent. Although I had listened to most of the podcasts, the workshop showed the strategies in action and gave me more confidence to implement them in my classroom. It was also amazing to share insights with teachers from around the globe. I love how Liam is very efficient and concise in his presentations. All the information was very practical. And the three 90 minute sessions with time to try things out in between workshops was perfect.  

• Shelly, Italian teacher, Boston MA

It was very thoughtfully planned with the perfect ratio between Liam's sharing some theoretical knowledge/his experience, his doing demos and us trying to apply new knowledge immediately. Perfect balance between theory and practice, and the immediate application part made learning stick. Plus, there was an opportunity to reflect in a friendly and supportive atmosphere which also strengthened the new learning. 

• Irina, French teacher, Canada.​

This workshop gave us very useful information, student friendly strategies and teachers effectiveness. Dr. Liam gives very specific tasks for us to put into practice what we learn, this let us try the new strategies and have immediate feedback in the next workshop with him. 

• Lexandra, Spanish teacher, elementary. Quebec.

What is included in the course fee?

Included in the €140 course fee:

• Two x two hour online, interactive, workshops
• Pre-course questionnaire analysis
• Post-course e-mail support
• Three Q&A videos within 24 hours of each session
• All presentations, handouts and resources will be provided digitally
• A Motivated Classroom post-course certificate of attendance entitled ​"Fostering a love for reading in the language classroom"

10% of every booking fee goes directly towards two projects that are close to my heart:

• The Rainforest Trust environmental protection project to help save our planet from destruction.
• Providing sporting and integration opportunities to refugees with the EVAM refugee welcome centres in Switzerland.​

Sign-up here:

• Places on this workshop are now FULLY BOOKED.
• Reduced fees are available to:
  • Patrons of  The Motivated Classroom podcast
  • Trainee teachers currently enrolled on a teaching training programme.
• ​To be the first to know and receive a pre-registration form by email before the course opens to the public, complete this short form.
  

Group bookings / Purchase orders:

• If you require a purchase order for your school or a pro-forma invoice, please contact me with the details required.
• Places are not secure until the payment has been made.